Thank You to Lou Baron

[Geoff Anderson]

Id like to thank our ship mate Lou for pointing me in the right direction to finding out the history of one of my relies who was a jap pow.
He was john Ernest Arthur Thomas, Lac ,84 squadron, RAF, service number 548292. He was captured in Java 08/03/42. Then being transported on the hell ship Dainichi Maru from Java via signapore to Honshu (mukaishima) Japan. A voyage taking nearly two months in which 80 men died. I think i have him being liberated in 1945 at Hiroshima#4 Mukaishia, where he seems to have been used as heavy labour in the shipyards there. From there i lose him, but from what i understand he was taken to Australia to recover, before being repatreated to the UK some 12 months later. On being liberated he weighed just 41/2 stone, i next find him in 1948 getting married in South Wales and he died sometime around 1966 of cancer? (Possible link to the atomic bomb fallout)
So once again Lou THANK YOU.
Ps i read your story on the COFEPOW site, Very good reading.

[Lou Barron]

Pleased that i was some help Geoff in finding some info about your relation it seems he had very rough time

[Geoff Anderson]

Morning all. from a bright & sunny NZ.
Would anybody be able to tell me or point me in the right direction to finding out where in Australia the above John Thomas would have gone.
I have a wartime reminisce from a John Ovens, RAF, who went through the same camps and hell ship as my john Thomas did. John Ovens is also on the same British rescue roster from the camp. Which was Hiroshima#4 Mukaishima. 78 british were liberated from this camp all RAF and all of a simmular rank (So i assume they all went together)
In this reminisce he states,
Quote.
"We left Mukaishima at 12 noon on the 12Th September and traveled by train to near Yokohama docks. we then transferred to an American Ship for a short distance and then boarded HMS Ruler, a british aircraft carrier. for the journey to Australia.
After a few weeks convalescence in hospital and a private house in Sydney i boarded a 'plane' to England and eventually home".
Q
Is there a way to find out where the HMS Ruler went to in Australia from Japan ?
Would there be any rosters/ lists of which Ozzie hospital they went too?
Would we know how and when they were repatriated. IE (what ship or did they fly home ????)
Thanks Geoff.

And as a bit of a quiz what is an ASP in the RAF. its taken me 3 days to find out what it is.